


This time will be different

by Cpt_Obvious



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: As we all know she can, Basically it's just Lena thinking, F/F, Kara and Lex are mentioned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-19
Updated: 2020-05-19
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:41:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 926
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24274507
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cpt_Obvious/pseuds/Cpt_Obvious
Summary: Just a realization I would have wanted to see for Lena after Crisis.
Relationships: Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor
Kudos: 50





	This time will be different

**Author's Note:**

> I had a really hard time to believe that Lena would just side with her brother after Crisis. I could buy it in season 4. While she brought him to jail, he was still her brother and she couldn't let him die. I could even buy that she would believe he had changed. After all, certain death can have that affect on people.  
> But would she really join him a second time, just because he slaps a Truth Seeker on his arm and tells her outright he would betray her as soon as it suits him? I don't think so.
> 
> English isn't my native language, and I don't have a beta reader. So there will be mistakes, and they're all mine.

You see, the thing about putting everything on your mind into tiny little boxes and then store them away is, that it is simply not good for you. Lena knew that, of course. After all, she was a certified genius.

But it was also damn useful. For example, when you’re waking up from nap because your dead brother strolls into your apartment, telling you that he just had restarted the universe, spared you from being erased from existence and – as a bonus – _tweaked_ reality a bit. Oh, and by the way, you’re one of only a handful people who can remember the old universe, you’re welcome.

Now, you _could_ start thinking about the fact that the existence of a multiverse had just been confirmed. The scientific implications alone would certainly make your head spin and distract you from everything you should actually focus on right now – probably just as your actually-not-so-dead brother hoped. Or, you could just put all of that aside, stuff it in these tiny little boxes to unpack it later (or never, whatever works best), and start digging.

Which is exactly what Lena had done. If her brother had played around with the very fabric of reality, she had to know what he had changed. There was no way to be sure, of course. He might have _told_ her that her memories were completely intact, but she had only his word for it. He could have changed a million things and she would be none the wiser. For example, in this shiny new world of his own making, Truth Seekers might not work on him and that he had used one while telling his story proofed nothing.

However, the more Lena found out, the more certain she got he was actually being honest with her. He needed her mind for his schemes, needed her at one hundred percent and even more, if he could get it from her. He would not risk losing or damaging his asset by altering her memories in a way he could not reverse if needed. But what made her sure that her memories had not been changed was one simple fact:

Lex enjoyed seeing her suffer.

She had shot him in the chest, and she knew he would never forget that, nor forgive it. She knew, because he had _let_ her remember, well knowing she would get the message.

_You betrayed me, but I’ll let it slide, because you’re family. I’m still here, but your so-called friends aren’t. I will always be here._

But there was another meaning right behind all that.

_You owe me._

And had he not already gotten his revenge? She had still lost her mother. She had still been adopted by the Luthors, had been twisted and abused for her entire childhood. Lillian still hated her. She had still killed Jack to save Kara. Everybody but Sam had still left her (come to think of it, she was surprised Lex hadn’t changed that).

The point was, all the bad things in her life had still happened, all her suffering, the humiliation and the emotional torture were unchanged. And Lex had made sure she knew it, that she knew he could have made her life better but chose otherwise. After all, she had betrayed him, and there was a price to pay. It was the Luthor way.

But that had not been enough for him. There was one particular thing he _had_ changed.

Kara had never lied to her, and Lena had never hurt her best friend.

In this time line, universe or whatever it was, Lena had never known that Kara Danvers was Supergirl. They were not even friends, really, and that would have been great, because Lena would have had no reason to feel betrayed if Kara told her about her secret.

And Kara would have told her, Lena was sure of it. Whatever bad blood there was between them, Lena knew that Kara was tormented by the loss of their friendship and that she would have jumped at the chance to fix it. They could have become friends again, could have grown close again, trusted each other again, and maybe, just _maybe_ , this time Lena would have found the courage to –

She stopped her thoughts right there, violently cut them off before they could go any further.

Lex had taken that from her too. Not only taken it, he had left it there, sitting right in front of her, but poisoned by the simple truth that both Kara and Lena remembered – the lies, the betrayal, and at least one broken heart. Lex was certainly patting himself on the back for that one. Sure, it hurt Lena, but it simultaneously hurt Kara as well. Two birds with one stone, precise and efficient. Lex liked efficiency.

He had also made sure that there was only one person left that could offer Lena at least the illusion of not being alone – of being wanted, if only for her mind and her value as an asset. And that person was he himself.

But Lena would not take the bait, not this time. He had manipulated and used her before, and by mistake on his part or not, she remembered that too. She would not fall for it again. Being alone was preferable to being his and her mother’s pawn in their plans, whatever they may be.

It was then Lena swore a silent oath to herself. Whatever happened, this time would be different. This time, she would not just kill him.

This time, he would pay.


End file.
